My grandmother was the head cook for Buckhannon Upshur High School in Buckhannon, West Virginia for close to twenty years. Grandma might as well have been the head chef at the Waldorf Astoria for all the pride and joy she felt for her job. She was respected by her peers and students alike, was a talented cook and menu planner, and absolutely loved making the student body and staff joyfully comforted with her delicious dishes! Hundreds lined up for her legendary homemade goulash, crispy, fried chicken, and her sweet cinnamon apple crisp (my ...

 

Lots of us who work at the shop look forward eagerly to late summer when there are lots of juicy, ripe Michigan tomatoes available. The reason? That's when we make our Terrific Roasted Tomato Sandwich... soooo yummy! We specially season and roast fresh tomato slices, put them on fresh Great Harvest white bread along with some of our homemade cheese ball spread, leaf lettuce, feta cheese, and slices of red onion. Then grill them to perfection! Served with chips, Bugles, or pretzels and our homemade onion dip. If you haven't tried one yet....

Monday, August 4th is National Chocolate Chip day! Monday WILX  TV (Lansing) will be doing live-feeds from the DeWitt shop at 6:00 am, 6:30 am, and 6:50 am to celebrate with us! We hope you'll be able to watch!

I am completely convinced that our Michigan summers are the best summers anywhere. They are generally not too humid, not too cold with a just the right amount of sunshine to make picnics, days at the beach and backyard barbeques perfect past times.  My childhood family picnics are some of my most treasured summer memories. It seemed like back then more people went on picnics. There were church picnics, company picnics, end of school picnics, reunion picnics and family picnics. I remember my mother packed a lovely spread on Saturday nigh...

 

It's finally fresh Michigan blueberry time!  We are making lots of yummy blueberry treats at our shops, including blueberry muffins, fresh blueberry pies (and other blueberry combination pies) and our amazing "Blueberries & Cream" pie!  Stop into our shops and savor the taste of summer berries at their best!   

There is nothing better than summer, as there seems to be a contagious feeling in the air like no other season – that of summer freedom!

We are opening a third bakery café in East Grand Rapids, MI. The new store, located at 2226 Wealthy Street SE, was formerly the home of Mary Ann's Chocolates. "We are tickled pink to be in the charming Gaslight Village,” said owner Linda Hundt. “We believe our award-winning baked goods, delicious retro-inspired lunches, and vintage ambience are a perfect fit for this darling community.” The new shop is currently open for business, offering a select assortment of baked goods. After a July renovation, a grand opening will take plac...

As a kid, I loved summer meals, and still do. I love their flavorful charm and appreciate their effortless preparation. I believe that the simple, comfortable meals of the summer and every season will always be our favorites. Both of my parents grew up on farms, so for sentimental reasons, we always had a small garden patch to enjoy in the summer. We only grew a few vegetables, as space was limited, but green onions, green beans and various tomato plants were in abundance. As small as the garden was, it certainly was prolific, flourishing in i...